It took until the second period of the second game for the real Vegas Golden Knights to display their presence. And then they did for most of the next 40 minutes.
The end result was a grinding 3-2 overtime win for the Avalanche on Wednesday in which it was outshot 31-12 in the final two periods of regulation and 41-25 for the game.
Thanks to goalie Philipp Grubauer’s game-long work and winger Mikko Rantanen’s overtime goal, the Avalanche escaped to remain unbeaten in the postseason (6-0). Game 3 is Friday at 8 p.m. in Las Vegas.
The Knights survived four penalty kills (one goal allowed) in the first period and went to work.
Given 12 hours to review the game, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar had one major takeaway from the second and third periods.
“I think they outworked us,” he said.
Outworked, outshot and outscored the Avalanche to force overtime.
The Avalanche’s lull was equal parts surprising and not so much.
Surprising: The Avs came out humming in the first period, building a 2-1 lead and out-shooting the Knights 11-9.
“We were skating, drawing penalties, winning a lot of races (and) winning a lot of puck battles,” Bednar said.
Not so much: The Knights tied the Avalanche for most regular-season points for a reason, so they were bound to play hard and well.
The momentum shift was immediate in the second period.
In the opening two minutes, the Knights seized on own-zone turnovers by defensemen Cale Makar (unable to corral a bouncing puck) and Ryan Graves (lost his balance in the corner). Grubauer made a fine pad save on winger Max Pacioretty. The Knights had the period’s first seven shots.
What happened?
“They won races to the puck, they were more competitive getting to the puck and for us, on our breakouts and neutral zone (play), we weren’t skating onto the puck,” Bednar said. “We were too spread out so guys were isolated all over the rink. Our guys were being challenged 1-on-1 and their second guy was picking up the puck and moving the other direction. We weren’t in support of one another like we were in the previous four periods.
“We ended playing in our own zone for almost the whole period.”
When the Avalanche did gain possession, it couldn’t keep it. The Avs were booked for eight giveaways compared to only three for Vegas.
“They did a good job of creating turnovers and playing in our end,” Avs winger Brandon Saad said. “For us, it’s what we didn’t do — playing simple, getting pucks in deep, getting in on the forecheck like we did in the first period when we had success. We got a little too cute with it. We weren’t supporting each other and they created turnovers and had success. It’s more about what we can control.”
Despite the issues in periods 2-3, the Avalanche maintained control of the series thanks to Grubauer and Rantanen.
The Knights are down 2-0 in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history, but are heading home to an arena that has been cleared to be 100% full (18,000-plus fans).
“I thought we built on our game from Game 1 to Game 2 and we have to continue to build here for Game 3,” Knights coach Pete DeBoer told reporters Thursday. “We have to show up and win a game at home and with our home crowd, which should be helpful.”
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